Rescue personnel have called off the search for two boys who they thought were missing in waters
at the Creekside development in Gahanna.

Deputy Chief Ken Bell of the Gahanna Police Department said emergency workers have been
searching for the boys for more than two hours and nothing has been found. They now believe that
the boys were never in the water.

“Hopefully, it turns out to be nothing,” Bell said.

He said there also have been no calls to police from a parent to report a boy missing.

The search started after a 911 call was made to Gahanna police shortly after 4 p.m. from a woman
who was driving over the Rt. 62 bridge at Mill Street in Gahanna. She said there were two boys,
both about 12 years old, hanging onto a stair railing at the Creekside development and trying to
get out of rushing water there.

The railing is at the bottom of stairs that go down to a walkway by Big Walnut Creek, but it’s
all underwater at this time because of high water from recent downpours in Franklin County.

The caller said the boys appeared to be trying to get back up the steps but were unable and she
feared they’d gone into the rushing water.

Water-rescue boats from both Mifflin Township and Columbus fire divisions were called to help.
Bell said they searched the creek for a few miles and found nothing.

He asked any parent who knows of a boy of that age who is missing to call Gahanna police at
614-342-4240. And if a boy might be one of the children seen at the stairwell, an adult also should
call police at that number.